If a person is addicted to alcohol, toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances and commits a crime, the sentence imposed may be lesser, and may even result in exemption from criminal liability. In other words, it may function as an attenuating or exonerating circumstance.
But be very careful because you must also differentiate between addiction and the poland telegram additional intake of these substances. In addition, mitigating or exonerating circumstances will not work in the same way if a person decides to take these types of substances to commit a crime. In some cases it could become an aggravating factor .
The sentence may also be suspended or serve as an extenuating circumstance if the person who commits a crime enters an addiction treatment center .
The influence of addictions on crime
An addiction can lead a person to crime. We can talk about different types of crimes committed in relation to drugs or alcohol:
Induced crime : committing crimes under the influence of these substances, since being under the influence of alcohol or some drug can cause a temporary alteration of consciousness, cognitive alterations, aggressiveness, distortion of the perception of reality, etc.
Functional delinquency : refers to those crimes related to behaviors aimed at perpetuating consumption, in order to minimize the consequences of abstinence. That is, it involves committing crimes to obtain money to buy drugs.
Relational crime : This crime occurs around drug use and facilitates drug use. It can occur in two ways, either by directly or indirectly facilitating the drug, or by obtaining the money to obtain it. It is based on drug trafficking by drug users.
Each of these types of crimes has a responsibility that may be altered more or less depending on the situation in which the alleged perpetrator finds himself.
Criminal effects of the influence of addictions
When a crime is committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it can lead to different penal consequences:
Complete exemption , contemplated in art. 20.2 of the Penal Code : anyone who is in a state of complete intoxication due to the consumption of alcoholic beverages, toxic drugs, narcotics, psychotropic substances or others that produce similar effects, provided that he or she was not sought for the purpose of committing it or its commission was not foreseen or should not have been foreseen, or is under the influence of a withdrawal syndrome, due to his or her dependence on such substances, which prevents him or her from understanding the illegality of the act or acting in accordance with that understanding, will be exempt from criminal liability.
Incomplete exemption , article 21.1 of the Penal Code : for cases of semi-full intoxication or withdrawal syndrome , not totally disabling or due to drug addiction.
Ordinary mitigating circumstance in cases of serious addiction, article 21.2 of the Penal Code
Analogous mitigating factor , article 21.6 of the Penal Code : when the incidence of the addiction on the knowledge and will of the agent is rather low, either because it involves substances with less devastating effects, or because the addiction is less recent or more intense, or is rather a mere abuse of the substance.
The Courts and Tribunals are aware of this problem, as they usually recognise drug addiction or alcoholism as a possible factor in modifying criminal responsibility in the commission of crimes, since dependence on these substances can be an important factor in mitigating the sentence. However, it is also true that this addiction is not always proven in the sentence.
In order for any of these penal effects to be applied to the alleged offender, it is necessary to prove that the person was under the influence of these substances, either through expert evidence , a blood test or even testimonial evidence .
Article 80.5 of the Criminal Code states: "The judge or court may order the suspension of the execution of prison sentences of no more than five years for convicts who have committed the criminal act due to their dependency (...) provided that it is sufficiently certified, by a duly accredited or approved public or private center or service, that the convicted person is detoxified or undergoing treatment for this purpose at the time of deciding on the suspension."
That is to say, there are three requirements that are required for the Judge to be able to agree to the suspension of the custodial sentence :
That the sentence does not exceed five years
That the criminal act had been committed as a consequence of dependence
That it is sufficiently certified that the convicted person is detoxified or undergoing detoxification treatment
The suspension of the execution of the sentence will be conditional on the convicted person not abandoning the rehabilitation treatment until its completion, without abandonment being understood as relapses in the treatment. Failure to comply with the rehabilitation treatment is grounds for revocation if it is abandoned before its completion.